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268 Yaxkin. Preparations were made for a festival to be held in the next month to all the gods (corresponding in some degree to the Mexican Teotleco). 'The implements of all professions and domestic implements were painted blue, and nine blue dots were marked on the hands of children, to make them useful.

Mol. Besides the feast just mentioned, the beekeepers held another, in order that the gods might send a full supply of flowers for the bees. In this month also began the preparations for the manufacture of wooden idols, which was a very serious matter. The wooden idols, which were more highly esteemed than those of stone or clay, were made by professional artists, and it was believed that certain penalties attached to the trade, viz. that the carving of an idol entailed the death of one of the artists, or at least the contraction of some heart-complaint. Certain priests, the Chacs and the artists themselves, observed a rigorous fast, while those who desired idols procured cedar-wood. A special hut was built, and the priests, Chacs and workers were closely secluded in it while the work proceeded, the images in course of construction being sprinkled with blood and censed with copal.

Chen. The new idols, now made, were taken to the temple, and there purified and blessed by the officiating priest, after which they were handed over to the new owners, wrapped in cloth and placed in a basket. The stipulated price was paid in game and the local currency.

Yax. In this or the preceding month the temple in honour of the Chac agricultural gods was renovated, and their pottery, idols and braziers were repainted or renewed.

Zac. The hunters held a festival in order to appease the gods for shedding blood, since bloodshed, except in the cause of religion, was considered displeasing to the supernatural powers, probably because blood was par excellence the divine offering.